Truc Lam Bach Ma monastery is located in the Loc Hoa Commune, Phu Loc District, Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam. It is in the foot of the Bach Ma mountain, between the Truoi lake and areas Loc Hoa. Though it’s a little bit far from the central city ( about 30 km from the South-west of Hue city), this is still a very attractive place for tourists because of its peacefulness, romantic view, and impressive construction.

Truc Lam Bach Ma monastery – a destination near Bach ma national park

Coming to Hue city, besides Hue city tour, tourists often choose to take part in eco tours such as Bach Ma national park tour or Tam Giang tour. Especially, Bach Ma and Truc Lam Bach Ma monastery are becoming hot tourist destinations.

Truc Lam Bach Ma founded by Venerable Master Thuong Thanh Ha is the monastery of Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen’s first building in Central. The monastery which began construction on 30/3/2006 has so far completed including 3 areas: foreign aid, increased hospital and nunnery with over 20 large and small items. Truc Lam Bach Ma is a complex of the picturesque scenes which became an attractive spot for tourists all over the world when coming to Hue ancient city.

Standing high from the top of Bach Ma national park, you can see the panoramic view of Truoi lake as well as Truc Lam Bach ma monastery. The mountain is covered by clouds throughout the year, thereby the climate is always cool and fresh. Every day, there are hundreds of arrivals flocking to the monastery to take a sightseeing and offer incense.

At Truoi dam, to reach the Monastery, tourists have to take about 15 minutes by boat across Truoi Lake. The monastery is only accessible by ferrying across the Truoi Lake. Like something out of a legend, the temple sits on an island rising from the center of a man-made lake tucked into a valley. It’s a great idea to get on the boat, look around to see white clouds floating on the bottom of lakes and contemplate the high Shakyamuni Buddha statue standing on the hill in front of the temple in the middle of the lake. The statue is made of stone with 24 meters in height and 1,500 tons in weight. If possible, you should come here in the morning and rent a boat for a panoramic view of the monastery from the lake. Thus, you can feel all the peace and beauty of the monastery. Across the lake is the construction of Truc Lam Bach Ma hidden in the blue mist of the holy Bach Ma mountain which is cloudy throughout the 4 seasons.

Walking about 172 steps stair, you will come to the big gate with 3 entrances of the pagoda. On the surface of 1,9ha, the pagoda consists of about 14 constructions with different scales such as temple, guest house, the house of bronzes, drum tower and a bell tower, pavilion, etc. Built in harmony of Buddhist architecture and Truc Lam Yen Tu, Truc Lam Bach Ma also has the main shrine of Buddha sitting and reciting under the Bodhi tree. Behind the main shrine is the region which is used to worship Dat Ma Su To of Truc Lam Zen.

Visiting Truc Lam Bach Ma Monastery, not only can tourists watch the charming landscape painting, ancient pagoda roofs; patterned motifs which crown the ancient, pure, and elegant beauty of the monastery, but they also can smell the aroma of incense, and hear the sound of the bell humming and spreading in waves of the lake. This makes every tourist coming here feel soothing, and serene.

Interspersed in the gardens and forests is precious trees. Beautiful exotic flowers are fascinating, cut and taken care of by the hands of monks, nuns, and Buddhists every day. Not only an ideal place for practice, the monastery is also famous for its peaceful scenic landscape. For those who want to seek a peaceful place to dispel any tiredness and worries of life, Truc Lam Bach Ma monastery is an ideal place that they shouldn’t miss when having a chance to visit Hue city.

VM Travel